The Second World War was published in six volumes between 1948 and 1953: The Gathering Storm (1948), Their Finest Hour (1949), The Grand Alliance (1950), The Hinge of Fate (1950), Closing the Ring (1951), and Triumph and Tragedy (1953). The work runs to approximately two million words. Churchill wrote it (with the assistance of a research team including Bill Deakin, Denis Kelly, and Henry Pownall) in the years immediately after his 1945 electoral defeat, using it partly as political rehabilitation.
Churchill had unique advantages as a war historian: he had been the head of government during most of the war, he had kept personal copies of virtually every significant document that passed through his hands (the “Chartwell Papers”), and he possessed a prose style of extraordinary power. His disadvantage was that he was also the subject — the history is inescapably self-serving, emphasizing decisions that proved correct and minimizing or omitting those that did not.
The first volume, The Gathering Storm, covers 1919–1940 and is Churchill’s most devastating polemic: the story of how the democracies allowed Hitler to rearm, remilitarize the Rhineland, absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia, all while Churchill warned in vain. The moral (“In War: Resolution. In Defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Good Will.”) frames the entire work. Their Finest Hour covers the fall of France and the Battle of Britain — Churchill at his most heroic. The later volumes, covering the alliance with America and Russia, the invasions of North Africa, Italy, and Normandy, and the onset of the Cold War, are more politically complex.
The 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded primarily for this work, though the committee cited his career-long literary output. No other political leader of the twentieth century produced a literary achievement of comparable scale and quality.
Collecting The Second World War
First editions (Cassell, London, 1948–1953): Six volumes, various colored cloth.
Market values (complete set):
- First edition set, fine/fine: $2,000–$6,000
- Very good/very good: $800–$2,000
- Individual volumes, first edition: $100–$500 each
- US firsts (Houghton Mifflin): $1,000–$3,000 for set
Projected values (2026–2036): Very strong appreciation for complete sets in jacket.
The Nobel Prize Work
The Second World War (1948–1953) is Churchill’s six-volume memoir-history of the conflict he did more than anyone to win. The work earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. Each volume covers a phase of the war: The Gathering Storm, Their Finest Hour, The Grand Alliance, The Hinge of Fate, Closing the Ring, and Triumph and Tragedy. Churchill had access to his own wartime papers and correspondence, making the work an unparalleled primary source. The prose is magnificent, though historians have noted that Churchill systematically shaped the narrative to vindicate his own decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which volumes are hardest to find? Volume I (The Gathering Storm, 1948) is the scarcest in dust jacket because it appeared first and jackets were often discarded. Complete six-volume sets in fine dust jackets are rare and command premium prices. The UK first editions (Cassell) are the true firsts; US editions (Houghton Mifflin) are more affordable.